Pratt-Read is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 manufacturing

Manufacturing

Manufacturing is the use of machines, tools and labor to produce goods for use or sale. The term may refer to a range of human activity, from handicraft to high tech, but is most commonly applied to industrial production, in which raw materials are transformed into finished goods on a large scale...

 company based in Shelton, Connecticut

Shelton, Connecticut

Shelton is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 39,559 at the 2010 census.-Origins:Shelton was settled by the English as part of the town of Stratford, Connecticut, in 1639...

 that produces screwdrivers. It is a subsidiary of Ideal Industries

Ideal Industries

Ideal Industries is an American company that produces connectors, hand tools, testers, and meters for the electrical and telecommunications industries.- History :...

. It is one of the oldest companies in the United States, having been founded in 1798.

History

Pratt-Read was founded in Ivoryton, Connecticut

Ivoryton, Connecticut

Ivoryton is a small village in the town of Essex in the state of Connecticut in the United States. It was known for its production of pianos in the early 20th century and takes its name from the ivory industry that imported tusks. In the beginning combs, buttons, toothpicks, billiard balls, and...

 in 1798 as Pratt, Read & Company, originally producing beads, buttons, and billiard balls from elephant

Elephant

Elephants are large land mammals in two extant genera of the family Elephantidae: Elephas and Loxodonta, with the third genus Mammuthus extinct...

 tusks imported from Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

. The company began to specialize in manufacturing ivory

Ivory

Ivory is a term for dentine, which constitutes the bulk of the teeth and tusks of animals, when used as a material for art or manufacturing. Ivory has been important since ancient times for making a range of items, from ivory carvings to false teeth, fans, dominoes, joint tubes, piano keys and...

 piano keys

Key (instrument)

A key is a specific part of a musical instrument. The purpose and function of the part in question depends on the instrument.On instruments equipped with tuning machines, violins and guitars, for example, a key is part of a tuning machine. It is a worm gear with a key shaped end used to turn a cog,...

 in 1839 and eventually piano action mechanisms.

The company made its first screwdrivers in 1834 but stopped in 1840, instead selling the handles and blades to smaller companies. During World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, the company continued producing screwdriver blades and suspended production of piano parts to manufacture gliders

Glider (sailplane)

A glider or sailplane is a type of glider aircraft used in the sport of gliding. Some gliders, known as motor gliders are used for gliding and soaring as well, but have engines which can, in some cases, be used for take-off or for extending a flight...

 for the military.

Piano part production continued after the war, but the company gradually shifted its focus to manufacturing screwdrivers, and in the late 1980s, ended its piano parts business and began to focus on screwdrivers exclusively. Pratt-Read manufactures its own handles, blades, and—after a 2005 acquisition of Wisconsin

Wisconsin

Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...

-based American Industrial Manufacturers—bits, all in the U.S., which it sells directly to users under its own name as well as to manufacturers such as Stanley

Stanley Works

Stanley Black & Decker , formerly known as The Stanley Works, is a manufacturer of tools and hardware and provider of security products and locks headquartered in New Britain, Connecticut...

, Snap-on

Snap-on

Snap-on is a leading US designer, manufacturer and marketer of tools and equipment to professional tool users. It was founded in 1920. Snap-on is located in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and employs approximately 11,500 people worldwide...

, Danaher

Danaher Corporation

The Danaher Corporation , is a large global company headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States. Its products are concentrated in the fields of design, manufacture, and marketing of industrial and consumer products....

, and Klein

Klein Tools

Klein Tools is an American company based in Lincolnshire, Illinois that manufactures hand tools. The company is known for its popularity with workers in the electrical and telecommunications industries...

.

In 2009, Pratt-Read filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy

Bankruptcy

Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....

 protection.

On March 22, 2010, Ideal Industries

Ideal Industries

Ideal Industries is an American company that produces connectors, hand tools, testers, and meters for the electrical and telecommunications industries.- History :...

announced the acquisition of Pratt-Read from bankruptcy and will continue domestic US production under the name Pratt-Read Tools, LLC.